Echolalia: That's What He Said

What exactly is echolalia?

Echolalia is when a child repeats verbal information stated by others (e.g., people's conversational exchanges, videos, books read aloud, songs, etc.).

For a typically developing child, echolalia is a transition in language development. For autistic children who don't have functional language skills, echolalia is a way of communicating, "I heard what you said, but I'm still processing it."

While repeating words and phrases is a normal and critical stage in children's language development, excessive echolalia can interfere with social interaction and learning.

The little boy I work with (let's call him D) is echolalic and since working with him I have definitely had to RETHINK every word that comes out of my mouth. My goal was to reduce his echolalic tendencies, and with time I discovered some tips on how to do this, which I wanted to share with you.

Tip #1: Model every word, phrase, or sentence in just the way your echolalic little friend should say it. This means that you need to STOP asking this child so many questions and giving so many directions and start modeling more requests, labels, and comments.

Tip #2: Avoid asking the child so many “Do you want…?” questions since they will initiate their requests by saying, “Do you want …?” In this kind of situation, model what the child should say if you know what they want. For example, if they're reaching for an object, say the item’s name or model, “I want the ________.”

Tip #3: Teach scripts. Children may use echolalia when they don't know how to respond; therefore, providing a script helps them know what to say. For example, ask "What is your name?" and prompt the correct response (the child’s name). Repeat this until they have learned the right script. Try this with all questions that have the same answer. Be careful; however, this approach only works for questions that have the same answer.

Reference:

Krucik, G. (2013). Echolalia. Retrieved from http://www.healthline.com/health/echolalia#Diagnosis5